Sprayer and sprayer head for fluent coating materials



Aug. 51" T49. w. H. BELL ET AL.

' Filed Sept. 1.5, 1947 illi! l'l Ill N S M mY O E K E TB N N .A R E m PL uv ..A 4 .L mm J T a w r% V H \m I SPRAYER AND S PRAYEB HEAD FORFLUENT COATING MATERIALS Patented Aug. 9, 1949 SPRAYER AND SPRAYER HEADFOR FLUENT COATING MATERIALS Walter H. Bell and Jerry P. Parkman,

Port Arthur, Tex.

Application September 13, 1947, Serial No. 773,908

1' Claim. (01. 299-140) This invention relates to sprayers and sprayerheads, and more particularly to apparatus for spraying fluent coatingmaterials, such as paint, varnish, lacquer and the like, onto surfacesto be coated.

Various Sprayers have heretofore been proposed, but none of these haveproven wholly satisfactory. In most ofthe sprayers for coating nowavailable the sprayed material is not properly confined in itsdischarge, with the result that the coating material escapes and isdeposited on surfaces which are not intended or desired to be coated.Most of the sprayers for coatings'which are now available are alsounsuited for use out-of-doors and where the wind is blowing, because ofthe tendency of thepaint being sprayed to escape and be deposited onsurfaces which it is not desired to coat.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide animproved sprayer and sprayer head for fluent coating materials in whichthe sprayed material is confined by an air wall in such a manner thatthe sprayed material is directed to the area on which a coating isdesired.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a sprayer forfluent coating materials in which the undesired escape of the coatingmaterial to other than the area to be covered is prevented and which iscapable of use out-of-doors and when the wind is blowing without escapeof the coating material.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a sprayer forfluent coating materials in which the quantity of coating materialrequired is reduced by confining the same to the surfaces to be coatedand. preventing the escape and waste of coating material which wouldotherwise be deposited on surfaces Where no coating material was desiredor required.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a sprayer andsprayer head for fluent coating materials which is particularlysuitable, by reason of its confining action of the coating materialbeing sprayed, for coating areas where several colors are required byconfining the coating material during its application to the desiredFigure 1 is a vertical central sectional view through a sprayer andsprayer head in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical central sectional view, enlarged, takenapproximately on the line 2-2 of Fig. 3 and showing certain of thedetails of the spray head;

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view of the sprayer head as seen from theright of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an end elevational view of the sprayer as seen from the leftof Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is an underneath "plan :view of the actuating lever as shown onFi l.

It should, of course, beunderstood that the description and drawingsherein are illustrative merely, and that various modifications andchanges may be made in the structure disclosed without departin from thespirit of the invention.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings the apparatus, inaccordance with the present invention, preferably includes a bodyportion It which is adapted to be held in the hand of the user. The bodyportion It] has connected thereto, in any desired manner and incommunication with an end bore I'l,,a pipe [2 which is connected to asource (not shown) of air under pressure. The body It] also hasconnected thereto, and in communication with an end bore l3, a pipe I4which is in communication with a source of liquid coating material suchas paint, varnish, lacquer, or thelike, with suitable solvents, which itis desired to employ as a surface coating.

Within the interior of the body It] a longitudinaliy extendingpassageway i5 is provided in communication with thebore ll. Alongitudinally extending passageway i6 is also provided having a branchI! in communication with the bore H and a branch 13 in communicationwith an end bore l9,at the-front end of the body I i].

received in a bushing 22threaded in the body ill, the interior of thebushing 22 also being threaded for the reception of the valve stem 2|..An ad j-ustin collar 23 isprovided on the valve stem 2| and a lock nut24 isprovided on the stem 2| for locking the valve plug 20 in thedesired ad-,

justed position forthe deliveryof the desired quantity of air throughthe passageway Hi to the bore I9. H

In the body I l], a passageway 25 is also provided, extending from bore|3 to the passageway l5. An adjusting valve 26, mounted in the body 3I'D, and having an exterior manual actuator 21 is provided for adjustingthe delivery of the fluent Coating material through the passageway 25 tothe passageway [5.

Within the interior of the body H] a bore 28 is provided, disposed atright angles to the passageway l and having a tapered end portion 29intersecting and extending across the passageway ii. In the innerend ofthebore 28 a valve plug 3i] is rovided, engageable in the end 29 of thebore 28 for closing the passageway l5. The valve plug 30 is providedwith a valve stem .31 .whichextends outwardly beyond the body'portionf0. A' wbushing 32 is provided, in threaded engagement with the bodyII]. The inner end of theibushirig 752 provides an abutment for acompression spring 33, which is in engagement -.with the valve plug 30and normally tends to keep the"valve plug "20 in position to close offthe passageway ib.

A packing nut 34 is provided through which the valve stem 3! extends,the packing nut 34 being'in threaded'engagement with the bushing 32.Compressible packing 35 is provided in the space between the packing nut34 and-the bushing 32 for preventing fluid -=leakage.

At the-front end-of the body It], the bore i9 is enlarged and internallythreaded, as at 3%, for the reception of ,a threaded bushing 31 and acylindrical tube 38 is provided which extends through the bushing 31. -Apacking 39 compressible by the bushing 31,is provided to prevent leakageat-this location.

Within the interior .of the tube 33, a smaller cylindrical pipe 40 isconcentrically disposed, threaded at its rear end in the body portion isand in communication with the passageway 35. Thespace between-theexterior ofthe pipe it and the interior of the tube-38provides apassageway with which the passageway 16 extending to the bore I9 is incommunication. 7

A spray nozzle is provided at the front end of the pipe illandincludesarearwardly extending, externally threaded, tubular connecting portion44 and a front nozzle portion 45. The front end of the nozzle portion isflattened and elongated and has adischarge opening 45, as indicated inFig. 3, to provide 'a flat atomized stream of paint andimpellingair. Thespray-nozzle is held in position .on the tube'4ll by-an internallythreaded sleeve 41 and is removable for the insertion of another nozzleif desired.

' In order toconfine the stream of fluent material from the spray nozzlean enclosing'casing 5% is provided. The casing 50includes a forwardlyextending inner wall portion 5| which extends beyond the frontterminalen d of the spray nozzle and which is of substantially the sameshape when viewed from the front end as the end of the spray nozzle, butof larger size. The wall portion 5! has a rearward extension 52 forengagement with and by the tubular portion 44 of the spray nozzle.

The enclosing casing 50 also includes a forwardly extending outer wallportion 53 similar in shape to the wallportion 5i and'spaced therefromby spacer blocks. The wall portion 53 has a rearward extension 55, and,at the front end of the pipe 38, an internally threaded collar 53 isprovided for engagement therewith and with the rearward extension55 forremovably holding the casing 50 in position.

A passageway is thus provided between the walls 5| and 53, incommunication with the passageway between the pipe 40 and the tube 38which terminates 1 at its iront end in a discharge opening 51 fordischarging a stream of air which surrounds the fluent stream from thespray nozzle.

From the passageway between the walls 5| and 53 and extending throughthe wall 5|, a plurality of pipes 58 are preferably provided forpreventing the adherence of the sprayed liquid to the interior face ofthe wall.

In order to retract the valve body 30'and to permit and control thedelivery of coating material and air through the passageway 1'5 and toand through .the nozzle opening 46, a manually 'a'ctuatablelever"6ll'isprovided, pivotally mounted onbrackets Bl carried by the body Ill. Thelever 30 has 'an opening 62 through which the valve stem 3| extends, awasher 63 and nut 64 being provided on the outer end of the stem 3|outside the lever 63. Thelever 60 extends rearwardly along'the' lowerside of the :body portion Hi and at the rear end may be.:.-Drovided witha notch 65 within which a locking lever :66,:'also ,pivotally mounted onthe-bodyp'ortion [0, may engagefor locking 'the lever 60 infiuiddelivery, position.

The mode of operation will now .beipointed out.

Air under pressure is supplied through thepipe i2 and to thepassageway-l5, and rzfiuent coating material supplied through the :pipeM "and is available for-delivery to the passageway 25 and therefrom tothe passageway 15. The flow through the'passageway l5-and to thelpipe Mfor delivery to -and through :the .nozzle opening 46 with the coatingmaterial discharged forwardly in a -jet-and in iatomized form-isdetermined by the adjustment of the valve 26 and by :the positiom'ng ofthe valve plug--30 by manualzmanipulation of the lever (ill. .nnairxdrivenjet of fluent coating material :and air is thus dischargedthrough the znozzle opening 46 in the usual manner.

Air under pressure :is also continuously deliverecl :from the bore -IIto and through the passageway It, in accordance with lthe setting of thevalve 20, and passes :forwardl-y through the-bore 19,-. and the spacesbetween:the-pipe 43 and the tube-38 and between the wallsfil and-53, andis discharged forwardly'through the opening El'in the'casing50.

The coating material v-spray from the nozzle opening 46 is enclosedwithin and :surrounded by a wallof air discharged :throughwthempening51. This wall of air at its discharge from the opening 57 is spacedandseparated'from the jet from the-nozzle-opening-'=47. Therezis a tendencyof the fluent coating spray to diverge as it advances from the:l'lOZZlBWOPGIliIl-E, but'at-he wall of air provides an enclosing -fluidwall preventing the outward divergent discharge of fluent coatingmaterial andconflning the spray of vfluentcoating material to a limitedareaonthesurfaceto becoated.

The necessity of removing the :applied coating from an area whichis-not-desiredtobe coated, or for masking or covering an areaito',protect the same from the spray, is thereby :avoided. -It is alsopossibletopaint-objects with two or more colorsusing separate sprayerswitha minimum of mingling of the different colors.

The interiorsurface of the Wal1 5-l is'vals0 kept clear of paint by airfrom the tubes .58,=thereby obviating the necessity for cleaning the"interior of casing 50.

We claim:

--I-n*-a-sprayer:for:fluent coating-materials;a'body portion, 'an {air:cdelivery conduit sconnected 'to said body portion, a fluentcoatinghnaterial :con-

duit connected to said body portion, a fluent coating material tubemounted at the front end of said body portion and in communication withsaid coating material conduit, manually operable valve means in saidbody portion and controlling the delivery of coating material from saidcoating material conduit to said tube, an atomizing nozzle mounted onsaid tube, a flaring casing member in engagement at its rear end withsaid tube and extending forwardly beyond said nozzle, a second flaringcasing member surrounding said first casing member and spaced therefrom,the space between said casing members being in communication with saidair de-' livery conduit, the front ends of said casing members providinga forwardly facing discharge opening in advance of said nozzle andspaced from and surrounding said nozzle for supplying a wall of airsurrounding the fluid from said nozzle, and a plurality of fluidconduits spaced around said 6 first casing member and communicating fromthe space between said casing members to the interior of the inner wallof the first mentioned casing member for the delivery of air to andalong said inner wall for cleaning the same.

' WALTER H. BELL.

JERRY P. PARKMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

